Water-soluble dendritic unimolecular micelles:

Dendrimers and supramolecular chemistry

“…Specially designed dendrimers with a hydrophobic interior and a hydrophilic periphery are not only capable of molecular inclusion but they can also solubilize hydrophobic molecules, such as pyrene in aqueous solution, to an extent at least equal to traditional micelles while not displaying any critical micelle concentration (37)(38)(39)(40)(41). In contrast to classical micelles that are thermodynamic aggregates of amphiphilic molecules and therefore dynamic assemblies of small molecules, these ''unimolecular micelles'' are static and retain their cohesion regardless of concentration.…”

“…For example, we have used dendritic molecules with a hydrophobic interior and an oligoethylene glycol periphery to entrap significant amounts of a hydrophobic drug, such as indomethacin, within their collapsed interior as a model for a slow-release drugdelivery agent (41) (Fig. 4).…”

Interfacial properties of amphiphilic dendritic polymers

“…73,89 Studies have shown that these highly branched structures are able to release hydrophobic drugs in a sustained manner, as release has been found at times to continue for several hours. 73,89 In the previous section it was mentioned that the release of hydrophobic molecules from dendritic micelles is dependent on showing complete release of encapsulated drug.…”

Self-assembly of cholesterol-hydrotropic dendrimer conjugates into micelle-like structure: Preparation and hydrotropic solubilization of paclitaxel

“…Due to the nano-sized spherical shape and multivalent surface functionalities, they have been used as a host of biomimetic and nanotechnological applications [1]. Solubilization of hydrophobic compounds by dendrimers has been extensively studied in the drug delivery area [2][3][4]. Biocompatible and/or biodegradable dendrimers have been applied to developing controlled-release systems and tissue scaffolds.…”

“…1 groups of PTX were surrounded by PGDs [10]. The solubilizing mechanism of PGDs is quite different from conventional polymeric micelles and unimolecularlly dendrimertic miclles [4]. There is no need to have a hydrophobic core as a drug reservoir in PGDs.…”